Mexican National Receives 135-Month Sentence for Trafficking Methamphetamine in San Juan County
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 19, 2011 |
ALBUQUERQUE—This afternoon in federal court in Albuquerque, Jose Ponce-Lopez, 41, was sentenced to a 135-month term of imprisonment for his narcotics and firearms convictions. Ponce-Lopez, a Mexican citizen who maintains a residence in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, will be deported after he completes his prison sentence.
United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Ponce-Lopez has been in federal custody since his arrest on September 12, 2009, when agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Region II Narcotics Task Force (Region II) executed a search warrant at his residence in San Juan County and seized large quantities of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, four firearms, and cash. Ponce-Lopez was indicted on December 3, 2009 and charged with possession of more than 500 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
On November 5, 2010, Ponce-Lopez pled guilty to a two-count information charging him with possession of more than 500 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office. In entering his guilty plea, Ponce-Lopez admitted that, on September 12, 2009, when agents executed a search warrant at his residence, they found methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, $3,468.00 in cash and four firearms in the residence. Ponce-Lopez further admitted that the agents also recovered quantity of methamphetamine from inside the door panels of his vehicle. Ponce-Lopez acknowledged that, in September 2009, he had been involved in the sale and purchase of methamphetamine. Records reflect that the agents recovered more than 1,900 gross grams of methamphetamine from Ponce-Lopez’s residence and vehicle, and laboratory analysis determined that the narcotics seized contained 1,371.36 grams of “actual” methamphetamine.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jon K. Stanford, and was investigated by the FBI and Region II.